RVing Stories of Bob and Sharon

Where Did the Holidays Go?

2009-12-28T22:20:00.003-05:00

Bob and I made it through our first time managing the See's Candies Kiosk in Texas. It was a lot of work, but a lot fun as well also. We look forward to doing it again next year. Texas is much different than we imagined it - lots and lots and lots of traffic. We were about 20 miles from Houston and the traffic and the way people drive was crazy. We were very fortunate that the RV Park we were at was only 5 miles from the mall we worked at. Even at that the traffic was pretty nutty. The Christmas decorations at the mall were beautiful and helped us keep the Holiday spirit even on the busiest of days. The weather even made it feel like Christmas. The first couple weeks we were in Texas the weather was great, then it just got consistently colder after that. We even had snow a couple days - certainly not weather we were looking for. Bob and I worked November and December and the 2 months went by so fast, that it seemed like they were over before we knew it. Hope everyone had wonderful Holidays and we kept everyone in our thoughts even though we weren't able to send out Holiday Cards. Maybe we can try and send out "Christmas in July" cards instead. Tomorrow we head out to Arizona to meet some friends, relax and hopefully enjoy some warm sunshine. Love, Bob, Sharon & Toby

Reflections of our RV Life and Friendships

2009-10-22T14:51:00.002-04:00

One of the things that Bob and I have enjoyed upon embarking on our new lifestyle is something that we never anticipated: meeting people that we would form lasting friendships with. We certainly meet a lot of new people in our ventures, and the probability of staying in touch isn’t a lot as everyone is going in different directions and has their own itinerary they follow. That isn’t the case when we met Robert and Jane, last January (2009), in Quartzsite, AZ They were vendors there and I was helping out at another vendor booth. The four of us really hit it off and enjoyed spending time together and we agreed to stay in touch.

You might wonder where this story is going – while we were in South Dakota over the summer, they stopped to see us as they were traveling through on their way back home to California. Then when Bob and I were leaving San Francisco we thought we’d see if they lived near the route we were traveling on our way to Texas. As it turned out, they were leaving Houston, TX, which was where we were heading to, on their way back home to California. They didn’t live far from where we would be traveling and they would be home by the time we got there. It was great that we were able to stop and visit for a few days.

It is sad to think we would have missed out on the opportunity to meet such nice people if we hadn’t decided to workamp full-time. I guess the reason for my story is that, we are grateful and blessed to have been able to meet Robert and Jane, and know that we have a friendship that will last for the rest of our lives.

My other point is, that Bob and I have met so many nice people in our travels, that any skepticism of living in our RV full-time and workamping has cemented our decision that we made the right choice in what we are doing. It is hard to believe that we have been on the road for a year and a half already. God willing, we are looking for many more years and miles to go yet.

We will post again soon.

With Lots of Love,

Bob, Sharon & Toby

California Bound

2009-10-17T14:15:00.000-04:00

With the hot air balloons and New Mexico behind us we are heading to South San Francisco, CA for training for our next work assignments. We are going to See’s Candies for training in operating a kiosk, or a holiday gift center, in Texas for the holiday season. Normally they like to fly you to San Francisco for training, but due to the fact we really didn’t have anyplace to park our RV or a babysitter for Toby, we decided to drive there. We stayed at Candlestick RV Park, right across from Candlestick Stadium. While the park itself was pretty safe, the neighborhood probably wasn’t the best, but it was our choice to drive there due to our limitations.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any photos of our time in San Francisco. Our training was only for 3 days and our time was spent mostly on that without much time for site seeing. See’s is a fantastic company to work for and they really were generous to everyone that attended the training. We really didn’t know much about the company. See’s is actually owned by the Berkshire-Hathaway company which is owned by Warren Buffet, but is still run the way the original family had operated it. We must also personally endorse the candy. Neither Bob or I had ever had See’s candy before, and we will both attest to how great it is. They even have a variety of sugar-free candy also.

Bob and I definitely want to go back to San Francisco and be able spend some free time farther north where we will be able to visit Alcatraz, see the Golden Gate Bridge and many other places San Francisco is known for. We will be leaving San Francisco on 22nd then head towards Los Angeles where will stop and visit with friends before putting down roots in Texas for a couple months.

Love,

Bob, Sharon & Toby

Balloons Over Albuquerque!

2009-10-04T23:21:00.000-04:00

We finished our summer work assignments and left South Dakota at the end of September. Bob and I so much enjoyed our time in South Dakota. As I have said before, it is such a beautiful area that we both love, and it is for that reason we agreed to go back for the summer of 2010 season. From the Black Hills we headed to Albuquerque, New Mexico where we had the opportunity to attend the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. We met some really nice people, and neither of us had ever seen hot air balloons up close. You were even able to go out on the launch fields as they were airing up and launching the balloons. There were over 500 balloons launching almost every day. The wind determined whether balloons could go up or not. Launches were scheduled early sunrise and daytime. They even did what they called a night glow, where the balloonists would light up their balloons at night. There were also fireworks scheduled quite a few of the nights. The colors of the balloons were so amazing, along with the many different shapes and sizes. Given the time and opportunity we would definitely go again. We have made a photo album of our favorites, we hope you enjoy them.

View Full Album

Until next time, we send our Love

Bob, Sharon & Toby

Where Did Summer Go?

2009-09-13T15:54:00.007-04:00

Time has gone by so quickly this summer and it is hard to believe we will be leaving South Dakota in a couple weeks.

Bob and I have really enjoyed our jobs, and we have decided to come back again next year. It is hard to describe how much we love this area of the Black Hills.

There is so much here that we want to explore yet. We are in area that we can drive to so many places within a short time. One of the towns we visited is Deadwood. In Deadwood is Mt. Moriah Cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried. Wild Bill has quite a decorative monument for a headstone, but Calamity Jane doesn’t.

We’ve also enjoyed watching the baby mountain goats growing up this year. Here are the babies in June.

This is one of the babies in August

I’ve also attached another album of our photos from the summer.

View Full Album

All and all we’ve had a wonderful summer. We will be leaving South Dakota Sept. 28th and heading towards new adventures for the winter. Hope everyone is well and we will post again.

Love,

Bob, Sharon & Toby

South Dakota Update

2009-06-06T13:29:00.004-04:00

We are back in South Dakota for the summer. Bob and I really enjoy being back here - it is such a beautiful area. When we first arrived at the end of April there was still a little snow on the ground and we had snow squalls on and off for a couple weeks.

Bob is working the front desk at the lodge and I am a concierge at the campground. Our managers are very nice and we’re enjoying working here.

We’ve been to visit the buffalo and the wild burros at Custer State Park. Have also made another trip to Bear Country. I just love the wildlife here and being able to photograph them. So I’ve posted some of our favorite photos that I have taken so far. You’ll notice since the weather is getting warmer the animals are losing their winter coats making way for the summer coats.

This was at a Ranger’s home at Custer Park. How would you like to find these guys sitting on your lawn?

Also – there are NO VEHICLES allowed next to this guy!

The wild Burrows at Custer State Park

Below are some of the wildlife at Bear Country

Reindeer napping – guess

he doesn’t mind the bird

on his back. Below – Mom

with her baby.

Below I’ve made an album of more photos. Just click on the “View Full Album” to see the rest.

View Full Album

We have quite a few more photos to post from our travels from New Mexico to when we arrived in South Dakota. I am just learning how to make the photo albums for our blogs, so I’ll try to make another album soon with those photos.

Hope everyone is doing well -

All Our Love,

Bob, Sharon and Toby

Advice From a Wolf

2009-04-15T23:58:00.005-04:00

Advice from a Wolf: Trust your instincts, Be at home in nature, Keep your den clean, Stand "fur" what you believe, Stay on track, Howl with your friends, Be a Leader and Pack Life with Good Memories. Monday we left Meteor Crater RV Park and headed east towards New Mexico. We reached our destination of Ramah, NM late in the afternoon. The area we decided to stay in is not very populated and is off the beaten path, therefore, we’ve had no cell phone or internet service for the last couple days. We chose this area because as some of my friends know, I love wolves and there is a wolf sanctuary here that we wanted to visit. It is called Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. The sanctuary is a non-profit and I believe, privately owned organization that cares for approximately 54 abused and abandoned wolves and wolf dogs. Since the wolves never lived in their own natural environment they cannot be rehabilitated and released back in the wild. They once belonged to people who either neglected or abused them or bought them as pets and could no longer care of them. The sanctuary is a safe place they will live for the rest of their days. Bob and I visited Wild Spirit Sanctuary on Tuesday and had a great time. To be able to see wolves so close was just awesome. They are so large and powerful, yet beautiful. It is so wonderful that the sanctuary is taking such great care of these wolves not only giving them the medical care they need, but also provide a place they can live and play for the rest of their lives without fear of abuse or neglect. Bob and I hope to come back maybe in October and stay at the campground they have at the sanctuary and possibly even volunteer there for a week or two. It was definitely a great day and we enjoyed our visit with the wolves.

"Take It Easy"

2009-04-13T00:20:00.009-04:00

Yesterday, Saturday, April 11, we left Surprise, AZ and headed north through Arizona. The further north we drove the colder it got. We drove through Flagstaff which was very windy and having snow showers. Of all things – snow, we had never driven the RV through snow, but thank goodness it didn’t stick to the roads or get very slick. After driving through Flagstaff we stopped about 35 miles outside of town and stopped in Winslow. Do you remember the Eagles song “Take It Easy”? It had the line: “standing on a corner in Winslow, AZ”, well that is where we ended up. Not actually on the “corner”, but at an RV park 20 miles from town. The weather is different than what we have been used to. It was very windy and the temperature dropped down in the 30’s last night, compared to the 80 and 90 degree weather we had been used to. We did drive into Winslow and stood on the corner. There are also parts of Route 66 that you can still drive on today. So there is lots of memorabilia around that is reminiscent of the days when the main road was Route 66. Today, Sunday we drove about 5 miles past the RV Park and visited a meteor crater. Approximately 50,000 years ago a meteor fell from the sky and made a whole so large in the ground that it is now a National Monument Site. No wonder “Henny Penny” thought the sky was falling. Bob and I did a 1 hour walking tour around just a part of the top of the crater. I should mention that we were at an elevation of 6,000 feet, which is much higher than we are used to. We did notice the difference when walking, let alone being so windy at the higher altitude. Bob had to take his hat off as he almost lost it a couple times. When we got back from our sight-seeing today, Bob cooked our Easter ham, and we had baked potatoes and apple jack for dessert. Tomorrow, Monday, we are back on the road again to our next destination. I’ll fill you in where we end up. Enjoy the photos and we’ll post some facts and history about the “Corner” and the Meteor in our next post. Oh, if at any time you want to see the photos in a larger format, just click on them and they will enlarge for you. Hope everyone had a Blessed Easter. Lots of Love, Bob, Sharon and Toby

HAPPY EASTER!!

2009-04-12T00:38:00.014-04:00

Bob and I have finished working at baseball spring training. As I had mentioned earlier, we worked in the concession stands as cashiers. It was quite busy at times but fun. We did get to see some of the endings of the games if our work shift ended early. It was pretty cool watching a real baseball game. The Surprise Stadium is the home stadium for the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers. The teams that they played against were the Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, LA Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, LA Angels, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks and the Chicago Cubs. One day we were watching the end of a game and one of the players from the Colorado Rockies was at bat, and when he hit the ball the bat broke in several pieces. It’s a good thing the Rangers pitcher was fast at ducking because he would have most certainly been hit in the face as the piece of bat flew over his head. Then it was neat to see some of the players hit home runs and listen to crowds in the stadium cheer and people chase the ball trying to catch it. I have attached some photos of the baseball field and some other attractions around the stadium. I took the photos on the day Bob and I had orientation and training, so sorry you’ll see an empty field. There was really no place to put my camera on a work day - I’ll have to try and think about doing something different next year. Bob and I really enjoyed our time there and we would like to go back again next February. If our plans go well the manager at the stadium said we were welcome to come back next year.

I know I don't update our blog as often as I should, and I'll try to do better in the future. Today we hit the road again to start another new adventure. Tomorrow I'll post and let you know where we are - I promise. Bob, Toby and I wish everyone a very blessed Easter.

Quick Update

2009-03-08T23:35:00.003-04:00

It is hard to believe that we are in March already - where did February go? We are doing well and our jobs at the baseball stadium are going great. We're having a good time and the weather in Arizona has been wonderful. The temperatures have been fluctuating in the mid 70's to low 80's the last couple weeks. We will post photos in the next couple weeks so you can see where we've been and what the stadium looks like. Until next time, Sharon, Bob & Toby

2009-02-11T11:44:00.006-05:00

Just thought we'd bring everyone up to date on what we've been doing since the holidays. Bob, Toby and I are doing great. After leaving the Phoenix/Goodyear area we went to Quartzsite, AZ for 2 months. Quartzsite is a very small town where there is a major RV show in January and the town just overflows with people and RV's. Our friends from South Dakota arrived the beginning of January and they stayed in the same park as us. The four of us worked miscellaneous jobs on and off until we left Tuesday, Feb. 10 to head back to the Phoenix area to work at the baseball spring training camp until the beginning of April. All four of us are working the baseball spring training camp. We are going to be working in the concession stands as cashiers. I've nevery been to a real baseball game before, so we hope to be able to see part of the games and take photographs. While we have not endured the snow storms and cold as some of you are, our weather has not been great either. The weather has been unusual from what we're told that it should be warmer than it has been. We've had many nights in the low 30's and days in the high 60's. While that sounds like a heatwave to some, for us it is cold. We are defintely looking forward to warmer weather soon. It is hard to believe that it will be a year in April since we started our traveling/workamping adventure. We have not regretted our decision and have had so much fun seeing so many parts of the country. Bob and I look forward to many more years traveling and exploring. We've been so fortunate to meet a lot of nice people along the way and we look forward to meeting more as our adventures continue. Until next time, we hope everyone is well and we'll post again when we are able. All our Love, Bob, Sharon & Toby

Update and Christmas Greetings!

2008-12-15T08:38:00.033-05:00

I figured it was about time to do an update. We left South Dakota the 19th of October for warmer climates and take a few months off. As you know, Bob and I fell in love with South Dakota this past summer. Bob and I made quite a few friends this past summer and for our first workamping experience, we were very greatful to everyone that helped us. We will also miss the buffalo and all the amazing wildlife. We will being going back next summer though, as there is so much yet we want to explore.

We'll take you on a journey of where we have been so far. We left SD at 8 am on the 19th and drove through Nebraska and for our first night stayed at a campground in Sterling, CO. Thought we would stay longer than one night, but there was a snow storm predicted so we moved on the next morning. When we left in the morning the CO sky was so gray and the weather was gloomy all day. On night 2, we stayed just over into the New Mexico border in Raton. Still very cold and the man at the campground told us that the bears sometime come out into the campground at night - Toby was not happy with that so again we moved on the next day.

On day 3, our next stop was Elephant Butte, NM. It was beautiful and WARM. The temperatures were in the 70s and 80s. Now we're talking - our kind of weather. We ended up staying in Elephant Butte for almost 2 weeks. It gave us a chance to recharge our batteries (ours not the RV) and soak up the much needed sunshine. Elephant Butte is a small city between with Truth or Consequences being very close by. There is a park nearby that has a small scale version of the Vietnam Memorial Wall with memorials and monuments of all the wars called the Veterans Memorial Park. It was very touching and beautiful. Bob and I had the opportunity to see the Vietnam Wall many years in Washington, D.C. and the park in NM was an exact duplicate.

After leaving NM we traveled to Arizona and planted roots in Tucson for 2 weeks. Tucson was pretty neat. We went to Old Tucson Studios which is a movie set where a lot of western movies and western TV shows were produced. Spent the whole day there and they even had a western shoot out show and traveling medicine man show. Very impressive!

Also while in Tucson we had the opportunity to meet with 2 couples from the Workamping group we belong to. Bob and I met Jaimie and George and Jim and Sharon at the campground Jaimie and George were staying at in Tucson. Jaimie and George have many years of workamping experience and were so nice to us. Jaimie has written and has published many books on the RV lifestyle which has helped us very much over the years and gave us the courage to do what we are doing. We also had lunch with Jim and Sharon, and they also have quite a few years of traveling experience and they were so nice to share their experiences with us.

Jaimie and George invited us to a parade in Tucson called the "All Souls Procession". This was a parade that reminded me of a combination of Halloween and Mardi Gras. It is a parade in which people celebrate and mourn people in their lives that have died. The first parade was organized in 1990 by a local artist that was mourning the death of her father. It was really pretty amazing all the costumes and the work that is put into this parade every year.

After leaving Tucson we headed to Phoenix, AZ. We stayed at a RV resort in Goodyear which was only about 5 miles outside of Phoenix. Bob and I really liked the Goodyear area. The campsite we had was very large and the weather was amazing. Nice and warm, no humidity. The resort also had a hot tub which we were able to use. We also had a chance to meet another workamping couple - Kimbery and Jerry. They were staying in the same resort and they have been on the road for a few years now too. What a nice couple, they showed us around Phoenix and we were able to spend some time with them before they had to head to CA to manage a Christmas tree lot. We have chatted on and off with them before via e-mail and we follow each others blogs. It was pretty amazing, we had so much in common and felt like we had known them a very long. We really do appreciate their friendship and the time they spent with us.

There was a pretty large Walmart in Phoenix. We had never seen one that big before. We were able to stock up on some groceries before we left - sometimes you don't know where you are going to end up, so it's best to make sure you have plenty of groceries - just in case. I was pretty sad to leave to Goodyear, I really loved the area and the resort we were at. Bob, Toby and I had a very nice Thanksgiving. We made our own Thanksgiving dinner and just enjoyed the day and the weather and gave "thanks" for the opportunities that have been provided to us. We have job leads for February and March will hopefully come back sometime during the winter.

We left Phoenix on the 30th of November to reach our current destination - Quartzsite, AZ. It is a pretty amazing place. Quartzsite is a very popular RV destination for the winter. There is a huge RV Show in January and many other types of shows through out the winter. It's hard to describe - but there is like many tents and buildings that sell anything and everything here. It is like a town that is basically a huge flea/craft market located in the middle of the desert. It's pretty amazing. Bob and I are staying here atleast through January and part of February. We are hoping the jobs we applied for work out so we can back to Phoenix area for 2 1/2 months before heading back to South Dakota. We have friends that we worked with in SD, coming to stay in the campground we are at. They are a great couple, also helpful during our first workamping summer, and we are happy to have them as friends and are very excited to see them.

Bob and I are enjoying the holidays very much this year. It's the first time in a very long time that we have been able to truly appreciate and enjoy the true meaning and the spirits of the holiday season. We are very glad that we have made this change in our lives and very much value the people we have met along the way. We also appreciate the love and support of family and friends back home that have kept in touch with us and support us in our journeys. Enjoy our photos and I'm sorry this is so long - I will try very hard to post a little more often.

We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe and healthy Happy New Year!

With Much Love,

Bob, Sharon and Toby

It Is Almost Time To Move On

2008-10-16T21:30:00.006-04:00

Bob and I will be finishing up our jobs in South Dakota this Saturday the 18th. We will be leaving on Sunday for destinations unknown at this time. Our plans at this time is to go to New Mexico. We have never been there so thought we would check it out and see what it is like. Eventually we plan on being in Arizona by the 1st of December to stay for the winter.

Our time here in South Dakota has been wonderful, better than we could ever have imagnined. The area is the most beautiful we have ever seen. The sky is the most beautiful, deep rich blue we have ever seen also. The wildlife and the many, many places we visited has made it a summer to remember. We are going to miss South Dakota, but we are looking forward to new adventures also.

The weather the last 2 weeks has been pretty cold. Getting down in the 30's and 20's at night. Haven't endured this kind of cold weather in a long, long time. We are certainly looking forward to going where it is warmer.

As soon as we get on the road Sunday, we will post again to let everyone know where we are.

South Dakota Adventures Continue

2008-09-21T13:27:00.011-04:00

Summer is winding down and Bob, Toby and I are looking forward to some time off. We finish our jobs in South Dakota in mid-October and are looking forward to getting back on the road and exploring unknown territories. Even though our plans are not written in stone, we plan on going to Nevada to see what the area has to offer. We also would like to go to St. George, Utah and then on to Tuscon, Arizona and visit with a friend.

We have worked very hard this summer and have really enjoyed our days off visiting so many places that we never imagined we would ever see. One of our favorite places to go - Custer State Park. We spend hours there watching the Buffalo, seeing the mountain goats, and the long horn sheep. We've been to the Badlands which was absolutely amazing. The Badlands are South Dakota's version of the Grand Canyon. The colors were beautiful and it was very hot, over 100 degrees the day we went and the air was very dry - no humidity. In Hot Springs we went to a wild horse sanctuary. The sanctuary has over 11,000 acres and they rescue the wild mustangs and other horses that will be put down. They bring them back to the sanctuary to let them run free.

The weather has been great lately. The colors are starting to show and hopefully the snow will hold off until we are ready to leave. We will post again to keep everyone informed of our journeys.

South Dakota

2008-07-06T13:07:00.005-04:00

As you all know we are settled in South Dakota and having a great time. Our jobs are going well and we've been visiting as many places as possible on our days off. Our first place to visit of course was Mt. Rushmore. Seeing it in person was more than I could ever imagine. Photos of it pale in comparison to seeing it for real. The feelings we experienced seeing Mt. Rushmore is something I'll never forget.

We have also gone to a place called Bear Country. It is a drive through wild life preserve that is home to many bears, wolves, bobcat, mountain goats, buffalo, reindeer and many other animals. It was so cool to see the bears up close.

A few of the other places we visited were the Presidential Wax Musuem - on display is a wax figure of every President of the United States. We have also gone to Crazy Horse Memorial, visited a Kangaroo Ranch, and the town of Deadwood. In Deadwood we visited Mt. Moriah Cemetary and saw where Calmity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok were buried. Also in Deadwood, the actor Kevin Costner owns a casino that we visited and he is also resposible for a visitor attraction called Tatanka. Tatanka is the Indian name for buffalo. He commissioned an artist to create bronze sculptures of buffalo being chased by Indians. The Indians used to chase the buffalo for food and clothing and in building their tents. Costner bought the land that was being destroyed as an auto junk yard and cleaned it up turned it into the visitor center. It was really beautiful.

Another thing we did was a 9 hour bus tour that tooks us to various places in the Black Hills. The name of the place that does the bus tours is called Fort Hays. All of the buildings that were used in the filming of the movie, Dances with Wolves (which starred Kevin Costner) are on the property of the tour service. They also have a chuck wagon and dinner show after they bring back from the bus tour. The movie was filmed not far from here and never realized that Kevin Costner had so much interest and was so an advocate on the preservation of the Black Hills.

Custer State Park is another great place we've visited. The day we went we were fortunate enough to see a field of about 200 buffalo, some of them came up real close the truck as we were driving through. There were also quite a few babies in the herd also. I was glad to be able to take so real close up photos of the buffalos.

As I said we're enjoying ourselves, and we'll try not to be so long in posting next time as we visit the many other places we have to go yet while here in the Black Hills. Enjoy our photos, we'll add some more next time.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

2008-05-06T23:54:00.004-04:00

We left Crescent, Iowa about 10 this morning and decided we would drive to just inside the eastern border of South Dakota. Once we reach SD we are going to stay there for a couple days and rest up. We arrived in Mitchell, SD about 3 pm and the weather was just beautiful. The temperature was still around 70 and the campground was quiet and peaceful. Bob unhooked the trailer from the truck, we went to the grocery store and came back to camp and just relaxed the rest of the day.

On Monday we went to downtown Mitchell and visited a place called the Corn Palace. The Corn Palace is the biggest tourist attraction the town has. The original Palace was built in 1892, torn down and rebuilt in 1905. The third and final Corn Palace was built in 1921. The first 2 were wood structures with the last building being built from steel and brick. The Palace has a basketball court and stage that can be used games, trade shows, proms, graduations, etc. throughout the year.

The outside of building is decorated with ears of corn, rye and oats to create new themes and images. The mural pictures are replaced every summer when the corn matures and starts to decay. They use about 275,000 ears of corn sawed in half and nailed flat-side to the building. It takes approximately 3 months to redecorate and costs over $100.000 every year. I've attached some photos but seeing it up close is even better. It really was amazing.

After our tour of the Corn Palace Bob and I went back to camp and again just relaxed the rest of the day. Tuesday we anticipate driving to Wall, SD. By doing that we will be 3/4 of the way to Keystone which is our final destination.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

2008-05-06T23:45:00.002-04:00

We left Concordia around noon today and drove through part of Iowa. The wind as slowed down some, that's why we waited until noon, to see if it would slow down a little before starting out. The high winds certainly doesn't help our fuel mileage either. We stayed outside Council Bluff, Iowa in a campground in Crescent. Not much to write about today. We are thankful that we have had safe travels so far and not too many problems along the way. Toby has been doing well as long as he can sit on my lap. Bob tried putting him in his crate on the day that we left and after listening to him howl and whine for almost 2 hours, I couldn't take it anymore and let him sit in the front with me. I know it's not the safest place to let him sit, but it is the best for our sanity.

Friday, May 2, 2008

2008-05-06T23:34:00.002-04:00

We left Paducah, KY this morning at 7:30 and drove into Illinois. It was very windy and rainy all day. We drove through Illinois into Missouri, stopping in Concordia, Missouri. Bob left the 5th wheel hooked up to the truck and it was still real windy. He put the jacks down on the trailer which helped the rocking from the wind. Concordia is about 1 hour from Kansas City, so I'm sure we were still feeling the affects from the tornadoes they had yesterday. The campground we stayed at was right off the interstate and unfortunately could hear the traffic. We didn't sleep well from the road noise and the loud winds. We were more than eager to leave Saturday morning and get on the road and hopefully drive away from the bad weather.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

2008-05-06T23:09:00.002-04:00

This morning we left Stone Mountain and our route took us around the outskirts of Atlanta. The traffic was fairly heavy even at 10 in the morning. Bob felt like driving a while today, so we drove through the rest of Georgia, Tennessee and 3/4 of the way through Kentucky. We stopped for the night in Paducah, KY at Duck Creek RV Park. The owner of the park had a fenced in area that he said we were more than welcome to use for Toby to stretch his legs and exercise. Needless say Toby had a ball being able to run. Bob and I decided to turn in early so we could get an early start in the morning.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

2008-05-06T22:14:00.006-04:00

Today we went to the Confederate Memorial which was just an awesome experience. The mountain itself is all granite cut into the side of the mountain is the sculpture. The sculpture itself consists of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee and General Stonewall Jackson. The carving is 90 feet tall and 190 feet wide and stands eleven and half feet out from the actual side of the mountain. It towers 400 feet above the ground in a frame that is 360 feet square, which equals 3 acres. The sculpture was started in 1915 and wasn't finished until 1970. From 1928 to 1964 all work was halted on the sculpture, so for 36 years it wasn't worked on. It's hard to believe that a sculpture of that magnitude looks so small on a mountain so large.

Bob and I took the skyride, which is basically a swiss cable car, 825 feet up, to the top of the mountain that the memorial is sculptured on and we were able to walk around the whole top of it. We also took a train ride around the mountain, played miniature golf and went to the antique car museum.

Our last stop for the day was the Antebellum Plantation and Farm. This was a plantation from 1845, along with a lot of other buildings on the plantation from that period, such as the smokehouse, a doctor's cabin, slave cabins, schoolhouse, etc. The plantation reminded me of Genessee Country Museum in New York if anyone has ever been there.

We had a great day and a lot of fun. We went back to camp made dinner and made plans to get back on the road tomorrow. It is nice to be able to stop along the way to visit places we've always wanted to see.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

2008-05-06T21:06:00.005-04:00

We arrived in Stone Mountain, GA at noon today. It is a very beautiful park and our campsite had a wooden deck with a charcoal grille on it. We took a walk around the park and didn't even cover 1/4 of the park it is that big. Later in the evening we made a campfire, which is our first campfire in about 3 years. Never realized how much we missed little things like the campfire. Tomorrow we are going to the other side of the park and view the Confederate Memorial and other attractions the park has.

Day 1 - Our Adventure Begins

2008-04-28T19:12:00.003-04:00

We left Zephyrhills at 9 am this morning to begin our RVing adventures. After driving for about 6 hours we stopped in Ashburn, GA to rest up for the night. We are staying at the Ashburn Inn and RV Park right off Interstate 75. Our drive today was uneventful (Thank you God), we did drive in some pretty harsh rain storms for about 2 hours between FL and GA borders. This is Toby's first long trip and he was quite hyper, I'm sure he'll do better as time goes on. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will drive for about 3 hours to Stone Mountain Park in GA and stay over night there and do a little sight seeing. It's still hard to believe that we are actually doing what we've always dreamed of. We will try to post some pictures as we are traveling so people can travel along with us.

Only 1 Day Left

2008-04-26T20:57:00.001-04:00

Hard to believe we have only 1 day left before leaving for SD. We finished our last day of work on Friday the 18th and it has taken me most of the week to unwind. We have been very busy this week getting ready for travel and visiting on and off with our friends from NY at Maderia Beach, so haven't had to much downtime. We were so happy to see our NY friends, and hope we'll still be able to get together next year like we have the last 3 years. Have just a few things to finish up tomorrow, like last minute groceries, haircuts, etc. We'll put our slide-outs in tomorrow nite and hook the truck to the 5th wheel so Monday morning we just need to have breakfast and be on our way. We plan on driving to Georgia the first day and then maybe go to Stone Mountain on Tuesday. Not sure about the rest of our journey, but will keep everyone informed as we go. I told Bob I don't think the realization of what we are doing will kick in with me until we actually get on the road Monday.

Time is getting closer

2008-04-17T12:18:00.001-04:00

Thursday, April 17 Tomorrow (Friday, the 18th), is our last day at our jobs. We will be visiting with our friends from NY during next week before heading to South Dakota on Monday, April 28th. We are very excited about our new adventure, and also nervous. I worry more about things than Bob does. While we have jobs May through September 15, we don't have definite jobs lined up for the winter. Bob says we will be fine and we will find something, I'm sure he's right, I just always tend to be the worry wart and Bob always is right about these things. We are excited about traveling across parts of the U.S. that we have never been before to reach South Dakota. I decided to create this blog so friends can follow our journey not only to SD but also all our future travels as well. While we have been in FL for the last 2 1/2 years and have made many memories and friends, it is time we move on. Bob and I are both getting restless here and the open road and new adventures are calling us. Stay tuned as we continue our new adventures and new life.